I am a woodworker and writer exploring and honing both crafts through this blog. Follow along as I discover myself in words and sawdust, moving along the path towards finding the methods of work that are best for me.

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Friday, July 31, 2015

The chest, coffer, arc, bahut, cistella, or hutch. The quintessential medieval furniture piece. Without counting I would say most of the surviving, reliably documentable pieces of medieval furniture are chests. Nearly every medieval reenactor who spends a night sleeping under canvas has at least one, usually it's of the six board variety, often it hides a cooler, that's where they keep the beer.

It's amusing to my contrary personality that there are so few definitive depictions of chests in the Morgan Bible. Most of them appear in two quarters of a single folio (the lower half of 6 Verso) depicting the soap opera of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers and eventually presenting his father Jacob, to the Pharaoh.

The black chest on the left is the most exposed of the lot and is the image I have chosen to work from.

The build is simple and straight-forward, but a chest offers so much utility I've decided to build a couple versions to show readers different options. A little while ago I finished up option one, a small arming chest, and today I took the chance to shoot a few final shots before I place it in the hands of the client who now owns it.

I was given free reign by the client to experiment and so I took many liberties and stretched in a few directions even outside of historical accuracy. This one started out as a prototype to test my experimental dimensions. We will see if it makes its way into the book, but for now it's finally made it's way off my benches.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

I own, use, and really like my Veritas Plow Plane. The only thing that has ever been a bother is the depth stop. I understood this was a known problem before I bought the plane, yet I still bought it. The accepted solution to the problem has been to use a pliers to tighten this knob and those holding the fence steady.

I know there's someone out there who came up with a small fitted strap wrench to tighten the knobs without marring the brass like pliers can, (forgive me if I can't remember the name, I only caught a photo a while back, If someone comments or emails me the info I will add it here as an edit) Personally I think if the strap wrench proves popular it will lead to an increase in problems like this. Without the threat of mangling, those inclined to torque hard will end up twisting off their knobs all the time. (insert adolescent snickering)

The issue is, no matter how well I torqued the depth stop knob it would inevitably slip. A few weeks ago, my efforts led to the failure of the brass alloy and sorrow in the shop.

I emailed Lee Valley right away. Their customer service is awesome! Even on a Saturday I had an answer back in a little over an hour and a couple replacement parts, including a new depth foot to "experiment" with, on the way. The rep suggested I rough up the post of the depth stop foot with sandpaper to try and give it a better grip but he admitted it's not a great solution but Lee Valley is aware of the problem and working on it.

My issue it the depth stop feels like an afterthought, something slapped on the side, which is out of character with the rest of my Lee Valley experiences. I think one (or all) of three things could improve the design.

1. The post is round and on the small side, something with more beef and shape would seem easier to grip, especially if the post were triangle shaped or square, Give me some surface space to tighten into because a cylinder requires a specific tight tolerance to grab.

2. The teardrop shaped clip that holds the post is a hollowed out casting and only contacts the post at two narrow points, If they were to make this a solid strong piece with contact along the whole face you would increase your odds of a good grip, even if you stayed with the cylinder post.

3. Lastly if everything is to stay as it is, then make the knob out of something more resistant to the torque of a pliers or strap wrench, steel would be nice, something in a grade 8 bolt variety please.

This afternoon I decided to try roughing up my post as suggested. I attacked it fairly aggressively with some heavy grit emery fabric in a circumferential fashion. I also roughed up the contact surfaces on the plane body and the teardrop clip.

Even tightened down with pliers, I can move the depth stop by pushing against it with my thumb. Substitution attempt failure.

My solution was to brandish a fairly new tool to the shop. A Starrett 237 Depth Gauge I picked up last month because a little voice in my head told me I'd need one, though I wasn't sure why. I skipped the depth stop and ran the plow plane until my eyes told me I was close to my target depth of 3/8", then I checked with the depth stop and refined from there.

Not completely as convenient as a well designed depth stop would be, but a passable, and (more importantly) reliable solution.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

"If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial matters."
- Hagakure - The Book Of The Samurai - Yamamoto Tsunetomo

The foundations of how we work are not trivial matters.

Joshua Klein at "The Workbench Diary" asked an important question on his blog the other day. "Why Do You Choose To Use Handtools?" He'll pick the answer he likes best and give the winner a very nice chisel.

I don't need to enter, I don't need the chisel. (I like the chisel, but believe someone more in need could make better use of it, I already have a few this size) Still I felt the question is important enough to address.

I make use of a hand full of power tools in the shop. I own a tablesaw, bandsaw, and drill press but they DO NOT own me. I use them but am not beholden to them for any task, (well if I'm honest I do appreciate re-sawing stock on the band saw, but I can do it by hand if necessary) I used to make many shop decisions based on the needs of machinery set up. Now I dictate the order of things and my time is more creative studio and less factory feel.

Hand tools are my emancipation. My Foundation. They connect to my right and wrong way of doing things.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

It's easy to sit high in the saddle like John Wayne and act brave and cavalier about everything you do, but that would be just what John Wayne did for a living, Acting. Feeling intimidated by the project you're working on is a real, honest to god, thing we all have to face sometimes.

If you're not facing it, then you're not pushing yourself, or the art/craft, far enough, but you have to admit there's a problem before you face it.

It may sound ridiculous to some, but I have a hiccup when it comes to chairs.

That makes this book I'm working on extra interesting because there are three types of chairs depicted in the Morgan Bible, one to match up with each style identified in Penelope Eames book "Medieval Furniture" A turned chair, a faldstuhl, (AKA Sella Curulis, or "X" chair) and the chair I've been in the middle of for a good long while, a boarded chair.

I worked on it feverishly before the snow fell last year and to my current regret, once I allowed myself to pause, worries and excuses to hold off moving forward began to pile up.

I had the day off from the hospital this past Thursday and I used it, (and the help of my youngest daughter) to clean up the shop. It had been trashed after a bevy of home repairs and non-furniture woodworking projects.

After getting everything back in place, I sat down in my worry chair and just took it all in. My eyes kept falling on the turned chair legs I'd hidden behind my tool chest. I swear they were looking right back at me. After a little internal argument I collected all the parts I've cut and prepared for the piece and laid them out on my workbench.